I own all of Coldplay’s CDs except Mylo Xyloto (and I mean I own the actual physical CDs, not MP3 versions).

I look forward to hearing Mylo Xyloto, but, I won’t purchase it in any form until Coldplay makes it available on Spotify. Coldplay has refused to release Mylo Xyloto to any streaming music sites reportedly saying that they want Mylo Xyloto to be heard as “one cohesive work” and not split up into songs.

Really? How stupid do they think we are?

Is Coldplay not going to release any singles from the album? Oh, wait; they’ve already released three singles from the album.

Do they think that people who buy the CD aren’t going to rip their favorite songs and ignore the rest?

Do they not realize that many of us who listen to music on streaming web sites listen to the entire album?

There are lots of bands releasing great music that aren’t working against their fans’ interests. I think I’ll buy their music instead of Coldplay’s.

One of the great things about this rifle is its ability to shoot small groups. Below you can see signed test targets from Hill Country Rifles showing that the rifle will shoot 0.4″ groups with Federal Vital-Shok ammo loaded with Sierra Game Kings, and 0.17″ groups with Federal Gold Medal 168 grain Match King ammo!

I’m waiting on some Federal Gold Medal and Vital-Shok ammo to arrive, but during my first range session with the rifle I shot a 0.7″ group with some Federal Fusion 165 grain ammo that was in my gun cabinet.

One of the bad things about this rifle is its ability to reveal the deficiencies in my shooting skills. I won’t post images of the rest of the three-shot groups that I got with the rifle that first time out, but they were fairly mediocre. They were:

1.5″ – Nosler Custom 165gr Accubond

1.9″ – Winchester Supreme 168gr Ballistic Tip.

2.0″ – Federal 150gr Fusion

This will be the first time I’ll be able to hunt with a left-hand rifle in many years. I can’t wait for deer and antelope season!

Here are the targets that came with the rifle demonstrating that it more than meets the Hill Country Rifles guarantee. (There really are three shots in that first target. )

If you’re considering buying a device that will allow you to watch Netflix movies and tv shows on your TV, you might be interested in this article.

A few months ago my wife and I started thinking about signing up for Netflix so we could watch television shows and movies over the internet. We have a pretty good internet connection through our cable provider, Mediacom, but I wasn’t sure I’d be satisfied with the video quality provided by Netflix since we tend to watch only High Def programs these days. I hesitated to purchase a device to stream Netflix shows until I could check out the video quality for myself.

Well, my youngest son got a Apple TV box for Christmas and while he was home over the holidays he hooked it up to my entertainment system, connected to his Netflix account, and streamed some TV shows and movies. The video quality was good enough to totally eliminate my concerns.

After that, it was just a matter of deciding which of the many Netflix-capable device on the market to buy.

Over the years I’ve learned it’s wise to do careful research before buying new equipment of any kind. By doing so I’ve avoided buying the wrong stuff on many occasions.

So, over the last few weeks, I spent many hours researching options for using Netflix over the internet. I considered the pros and cons of Blu-Ray players with Netflix support, Media Players with Netflix support like the Seagate FreeAgent® GoFlex, and set top boxes like the Apple TV and various Roku models. A few weeks ago I was all set to buy a Roku XD|S. The Roku XD|S is reasonably priced at around $100, supports dual band 802.11n Wifi (the fastest wireless protocol currently available), and outputs 1080P video.

My Roku XDS order was all ready to submit at Amazon and then a little voice told me I needed to do a bit more research into the Sony PS3. (Another important lesson I’ve learned over the years is to listen to that voice.)

So I did a little more research into the Sony PS3 on the AVS Forum web site and sure enough, what I learned made a compelling case for getting the Sony PS3 instead of Roku XD|S.

What changed my mind? The PS3 is the only device to which Netflix will steam 1080P video and Dolby 5.1 audio! Netflix limits all other devices to 720P video and stereo audio. That’s a huge difference to anyone who cares about video quality and audio experience. Although 720P looks okay on some HDTV’s in some viewing environments, it is visibly less sharp on many large, quality TVs. And stereo just doesn’t compare to Dolby 5.1 audio for modern movies and TV shows.

True, Netflix will probably provide 1080P & Dolby 5.1 to other devices someday, but for now, in my opinion, the PS3 is the clear choice as the best device to use with Netflix.

Unfortunately, the PS3 is also one of the most expensive options for using Netflix, with an entry level cost of $300. Still, the PS3’s greater cost may be reasonable when you factor together the PS3’s higher quality video and movie-quality sound with Netflix, its ability to play games, the fact that it is a top quality Blu-Ray player, and it has the ability to stream music from a home PC to your entertainment system. The latter feature may not be important to most people but it was important to me because it allowed me to move my D-Link DSM520 Media Player from my main entertainment system to my upstairs stereo system.

Weighing against the PS3’s many good qualities, however, are the PS3’s lack of a dedicated remote control and its lack of wireless 802.11n (the PS3 has only wireless 802.11g). Note that the Apple TV and Roku XDS both feature 802.11n.

The lack of a dedicated remote control can be overcome by spending $20 on Sony’s Blu-ray disc remote control, but the lack of wireless 802.11n can be harder to overcome. Although wireless 802.11g speeds are theoretically capable of supporting hi-def video, real world performance can be marginal, causing video dropouts, buffering delays and reduction of video quality from Netflix.

My home network is a combination of wired and wireless connections but the entertainment system downstairs is not close to a wired outlet, so at first I tried using the PS3’s wireless capability. I thought the 11g wireless might be sufficient for my purposes because the PS3 would be the only device using wireless most of the time. Unfortunately, although the wireless connection worked okay some of the time, it didn’t deliver consistent high quality results. To confirm that it was the wireless connection and not my home network in general, I temporarily ran a 100 foot network cable between my router and the PS3. Using the network cable, the PS3 consistently delivered top quality Hi-Def video from Netflix.

Powerline adapters and wireless bridges would add $100 to $150 to the cost of the system. I already had network cable and jacks on hand, so running cable would only cost me time and ingenuity. Given the $300 cost of the PS3, I decided to bite the bullet and spend an afternoon running network cable through the basement to the entertainment center. The work went fairly well with only a modicum of wasted time. Now that the system is up and all the work is done, I’m very happy with Netflix and the PS3.

I got my Gerber Tempo in April 2009 and have carried it on my keychain until this week (August 2009) when it became too unreliable to trust.

Although there is much I like about the Tempo, I cannot recommend buying it because it is less durable than it should be due to a fundamental design flaw.

The Tempo’s design flaw is that the LED is too exposed. The tip of the LED is flush with the end of the flashlight which virtually guarantees that other items in a pocket or purse will push against the LED. This flaw caused my Tempo to break after four months of light use. I have to wiggle the LED to get the light to come on. Sometimes a slight wiggle is enough, but often I have to play with the LED for 10-15 seconds to get it to come on and stay on.

Other users/reviewers have experienced the same problem with their Tempos.

If the LED were covered or recessed more deeply (like the LEDs in the excellent Infinity model) the Tempo would be a winner.

On the other hand, if you plan to store your light where there’s little chance of other objects
rubbing against the LED the Tempo might serve you well. It puts out a decent amount of
light for its size, has a solid feel, and uses readily available AAA batteries.

For now, I’ve replaced the Tempo with a similar-in-size Dorcy flashlight. The Dorcy is cheaper, feels cheaper, has a lens cover and seems to be about as bright as the Tempo.

Last year I listened to several radio sermons by Alistair Begg (truthforlife minstries) concerning the Sabbath. Those sermons left me with many questions about the Sabbath, why we really worship on Sunday, and what kinds of activities are appropriate for Sundays.

To answer these questions I began searching the internet for information on the Sabbath and Sunday worship.

Like many topics on the internet, it’s easy to find information and opinions, but it’s been challenging to find authoritative information. This week I finally found a well-documented article that was based on (1) the Bible and, (2) church history. The article answered all of my primary questions. If you have similar questions about the Sabbath you should read Sabbath and Sunday in Early Christianity

Please don’t be turned off by the fact that the article is hosted on the web site of the organization that used to be known as the Worldwide Church of God. The Worldwide Church of God renounced Herbert W. Armstrong’s teaching in the 1990’s and since then has embraced all of the tenants of the historic Christian faith. They now seem to be solidly evangelical. Note: in April 2009, they changed their denominational name to Grace Communion International.

The Old Testament tithe was of agricultural products only. (Those who made a living through commerce did not tithe on the portion of their income that came from commerce.) (Deuteronomy 14:22, Deuteronomy 26:12-13)
Or see http://www.setfreetogive.com/b31.htm#moses

In Old Testament times, the largest portion of an individuals tithe was not given to the priests or the temple. Instead, the largest portion of the tithe was consumed by the person (and his family) giving the tithe and/or was given to the poor and needy. (Deuteronomy 14:22-29, Deuteronomy 26:12-13) Or see http://www.setfreetogive.com/b31.htm#moses

Historical writings teach us that:

The Pharisees taught a form of the tithe that went far beyond the tithe set forth in the Scriptures, including tithing on all forms of income, not just agricultural income. (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus, The Messiah, Book III page 312;
http://books.google.com/books?id=EyGls9iGbSgC&pg=PA312&lpg=PA312&dq=Alfred+Edersheim+tithe+pharisee&source=bl&ots=PPdsddwYr3&sig=TK61UTGpjcvlsMnM59ieJPCYxLE&hl=en&ei=Mzn4Sd2gIqakNdv1haoP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA312,M1)

The tithe was not a practice of the early church.
See Set Free To Give page 110 http://www.setfreetogive.com/b107.htm

The tithe was ordained by the church hundreds of years after Christ to support the churchs infrastructure and building programs.

See Set Free To Give page 110 http://www.setfreetogive.com/b107.htm
or The Catholic Encyclopedia at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Tithes or http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Tithes

Last October I hunted the early West River deer season in South Dakota and had a great time. The only thing that marred the experience was that on the last day of the hunt it rained heavily and my almost-new Irish Setter hunting boots with 600-gram Thinsulate and Gore-tex linings got soaked inside because I neglected to wear waterproof pants which allowed my long underwear and the insides of the boots to get very wet.

When I got home I made the mistake of setting the boots aside and promptly forgot about them until mid-November when I got them out for another hunting trip. To my dismay the boots had an overpowering smell of mildew. I didn’t have time to deal with the mildew before I left on another hunting trip so I just put up with the smell until hunting season was over.

After hunting season ended, I emailed W.L. Gore and asked them for recommendations on ways to get remove the mildew without damaging the gore-tex. Gore’s customer service department recommended soaking the boots in a solution of Lysol. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that so I spent a hour or so with Google, searching for other solutions.

Google turned up several recommendations for a product called Mirazyme. I ordered two bottles and gave it a try.

Here’s the process that I followed that eventually got rid of the smell of mildew.

1. I soaked the boots twice for 10 minutes in a Mirazyme solution consisting of about 1/2 oz of Mirazyme to 8 gallons of water. Each time I dried the boots over a heater vent. The first soaking rid the boots of about 50% of the mildew smell. The second soaking got rid of only a little more of the smell.

2. Next I followed the advice on the McNett web site for dealing with very stubborn odors. I soaked the boots twice for five minutes in a Mirazyme solution consisting of about 2 oz of Mirazyme to two gallons of water. Again, after each soaking I dried the boots over a heater vent. After the first soaking in the stronger solution the boots smelled much better. After the second soaking, most, but not all of the smell of mildew was gone.

Unfortunately, there was just enough smell of mildew left to still bother me.

3. Finally, I sprayed the inside of the boots until they were wet to the touch with Primos Hunting Calls Silver Scent Eliminator with Colloidal Silver (Model No. 58001). Then I set the boots outside in the sun to dry.

I’m pleased to report that the Silver Scent Eliminator removed the last vestige of the odor of mildew!

Our adult Sunday School class is studying Romans and this week we are in Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 is very rich in doctrine, but verse 17 seems particularly relevant to me at this time. Romans 5:17 says

17For if, because of one mans trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousnessreign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

William R. Newell, in his excellent commentary on Romans “Romans Verse by Verse” wrote: Let us refuse to be content with a Christian existence that cannot finally be summed up as “He reigned in life through Jesus Christ,” — over sin, Satan, the world, difficulties, adverse surroundings and circumstances.

David Livingstone early wrote in his diary, “I have found that I have no unusual endowments of intellect, but I this day resolved that I would be an uncommon Christian.”

I think most of the time I’m a pretty common Christian. I pray that from this day forward my life will be one of uncommon Christianity.

Its been quite a while since my last post but in the interim Ive finished my Bible study of tithing and giving. Ive decided not to go into the details of the study because I found several good resources on the Web that do a much better job than I ever could in covering the Bibles teaching on tithing and giving. In this post, Im going to list the Web resources and in my next post I’ll tell you what I’ve concluded as a result of my study. If you want to study tithing in detail, I encourage you to check out the listed resources for yourself.

Note: this article is in response to the common belief among Christians that the Bible teaches that Christians should give 10 percent of their gross income to the local church (a practice commonly referred to as tithing). For many years I thought the Bible taught the tithe. It was only recently, after studying the issue in depth, that I became convinced otherwise.

These two articles by Southern Baptists Andreas Kostenberger and David Croteau are the most scholarly, yet readable material I could find. Highly recommended.

3. Tithing: Is It New Testament
Elliot Miller, Christian Research Institute
This article by the editor-in-chief of the Christian Research Journal was on the CRI web site when I began my research, but seems to have been removed from the CRI website since then. A copy of the article is here: http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?t=36937

4. Set Free To Give (Online Book)
Brent J. MacDonald
http://www.setfreetogive.com/bindex.htm
This is a fairly complete treatment of the Bibles teaching on tithing and giving with excellent historical information included.

5. Should the Church Teach Tithing
http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/index.html
Russ Kellys web site is the most complete compendium of information on tithing I could find. Unfortunately, Russ can be very strident on the topic of the tithe. (I suspect Russ is extremely frustrated with the South Baptist Convention’s refusal to re-examine the case against tithing.) Sadly, Russ can be so strident that you may be tempted to dismiss what he has to say. There’s a lot of good information here if you can filter out the emotional heat.

6. Toward the Tithe and Beyond
John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1995/923_Toward_the_Tithe_and_Beyond/

A respected pastor and Christian author explains why he believes Christians should tithe.